Index › Planning and analysis › Financial modeling › Microsoft Excel vs Vena

Financial modeling and scenario planning · October 2026 Edition

Microsoft Excel vs Vena

Zero of fourteen models named Microsoft Excel first on the direct prompt; one named Vena. Microsoft Excel was named by twelve of the fourteen models and Vena by eleven and Microsoft Excel carries 17 labels and Vena 21, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Microsoft Excel

accepted challenger

Named in eleven categories this edition.

Vena

accepted challenger

Named in nine categories this edition.

First-choice share14%12%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.

Negative rate24%5%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.

Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 14; printed, not drawn.

Labels1721A count; the two differ.

The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Microsoft Excel reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Datarails was named alongside these two in nine of the fourteen direct answers. Microsoft Excel vs Cube · Microsoft Excel vs Datarails · Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the financial modeling and scenario planning page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.

Microsoft ExcelFirst choices, of fourteen modelsVena

Direct011 against Microsoft Excel

Paraphrase05

Comparative10

Budget-constrained901 against Vena

Scale-constrained021 against Microsoft Excel

Negative002 against Microsoft Excel

Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Microsoft Excel and Vena stood in it.

Model	Direct	Paraphrase	Comparative	Budget-constrained	Scale-constrained	Negative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.1 Fast
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B

Microsoft Excel

Vena

first choice

named as an alternative

argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Excel on the left and Vena on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Microsoft Excel and Vena stood in it.

Vena first, Microsoft Excel not the choice

1 of 14 modelsMicrosoft Excel was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.

Qwen 3.7 FlashVena, Workday Adaptive Planning alternatives: Fathom, PlanGuru

Neither was the first choice, one was named

4 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.

GPT-5.4 miniDatarails, Planful alternatives: Anaplan, Vena

Gemini 3.5 FlashAleph, Cube alternatives: Abacum, Bob Finance, Pigment, Vena

DeepSeek V4 FlashCube alternatives: Datarails, Jirav, Planful, Vena

GPT-6 LunaWorkday Adaptive Planning alternatives: Cube, Vena

Neither was named

9 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.

Claude Haiku 4.5Datarails alternatives: Cube, Drivetrain, Planful, Prophix One

Perplexity SonarDatarails, Limelight alternatives: Abacum, Workday Adaptive Planning

Grok 4.1 FastCube, Datarails, Drivetrain, Jirav alternatives: Abacum

Mistral SmallAbacum alternatives: Cube, Datarails

Llama 4 Maverickno first choice

Kimi K2Drivetrain alternatives: Mosaic, Pigment

GLM 4.7 FlashXDatarails alternatives: Abacum, Cube, Lucanet xP&A, Mosaic

MiniMax M2.5Drivetrain alternatives: Abacum, Cube, Datarails, Pigment

Muse Glimmer 30BDatarails alternatives: Cube, Drivetrain, Mosaic, Planful

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.

Small business

Microsoft Excel leads by fourteen points.

Microsoft Excel#2 of 10

Vena#– of 10

The full small business standing →

Mid-marketThe figures above

Microsoft Excel leads by two points.

Microsoft Excel#1 of 14

Vena#3 of 14

The full mid-market standing →

Enterprise

Level: the same share of first choices.

Microsoft Excel#– of 12

Vena#9 of 12

The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Microsoft Excel

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.

“If you want to project a company's budget/revenue, use Excel for flexibility, or Cube to automate it.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice

“If your company already pays for Microsoft 365, use Excel instead rather than buying another tool.” GPT-6 Luna · budget prompt · first choice

“the best choice is usually Microsoft Excel if you need maximum flexibility at the lowest cost” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Vena

No label in this category carried a quote.

Also compared

Microsoft Excel vs Cube Microsoft Excel vs Datarails Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets Microsoft Excel vs Drivetrain Microsoft Excel vs Prophix Microsoft Excel vs Workday Adaptive Planning Cube vs Vena Vena vs Datarails Vena vs Google Sheets Vena vs Drivetrain Vena vs Prophix Vena vs Workday Adaptive Planning All twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full financial modeling standing

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.